Chief of an Elite Police Unit Involved in Two Fatal Shootings Is Reassigned

The chief of an elite New York Police Department unit that was involved in two high-profile fatal shootings in less than a month will be transferred to a post in Queens, according to a police order issued this week.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly issued the order on Wednesday to move Deputy Chief James G. Molloy, the head of the Emergency Service Unit, to run the Queens detective bureau. Chief Molloy, who officers say is generally well liked and respected, is to be replaced by Vincent Giordano, a deputy chief in the counterterrorism unit, effective Monday.

The move follows two deadly police shootings that have cast a harsh light on the Emergency Service Unit, a highly trained division of the department often called upon to perform some of its most dangerous tasks.

It was not immediately clear whether the move came in reaction to recent events or as a result of Chief Molloy’s tenure at the helm of the unit, which at four years could be considered long. Chief Molloy, 51, joined the police force in 1982 and has served in about a dozen precincts, detective bureaus and narcotics squads.

On Sept. 25, emergency service officers shot and killed Mohamed Bah, 28, in the doorway of his Harlem apartment after he lunged at officers with a knife, stabbing two officers in their protective vests. Three officers fired 10 bullets after twice using a Taser and also firing a rubber bullet, the police have said.

Relatives have questioned whether officers used proper procedures in dealing with Mr. Bah and other people classified by the police as “emotionally disturbed.” His sister has said police did not allow their mother to speak to Mr. Bah through the doorway before the shooting. About 20 minutes after their arrival, Emergency Service Unit officers broke the lock on the apartment door and tried to slip a camera into the apartment. Mr. Bah then flung open the door and charged at them with a knife, the police said.

Just over a week later, an officer from the elite unit fired a single shot that killed Noel Polanco, an unarmed 22-year-old National Guardsman who was pulled over for driving erratically in the early hours of Oct. 4. A lawyer for the officer, Detective Hassan Hamdy, said his client believed Mr. Polanco was reaching for a weapon under the driver’s seat. A woman riding with Mr. Polanco said he kept his hands on the wheel and that the gun went off before he had a chance to comply with police orders to raise them. No weapon was found in the car, though a small power drill was on the floor in front of the driver’s seat, the police said.

Photo

Deputy Chief James G. MolloyCredit
NYPD

Norman Siegel, the lawyer representing Mr. Bah’s family, said on Friday that the transfer of Chief Molloy was “good news” from the family’s perspective.

“This raises a strong possibility that he was transferred because the police commissioner determined that the shooting death of Mohamed Bah was improper and did not comport with N.Y.P.D. protocol,” Mr. Siegel said. “Here Mr. Bah is, in the apartment by himself. He’s not going anywhere. There is no reason to rush in and create a situation where the result was that Mr. Bah was shot to death. The protocol says you wait; you wait him out.”

Chief Molloy did not return a call to his office Friday afternoon. Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department, declined to comment on the transfer. Roy T. Richter, president of the Captains Endowment Association, the union that represents Chief Molloy, described the transfer as a “step up.” Mr. Richter said he did not believe the transfer was linked to the recent fatal shootings.

“The timing is unfortunate, but no, I don’t see it as having anything to do with those incidents,” Mr. Richter said, adding that Chief Molloy has led a “very successful career with ever-increasing responsibilities” attached to each transfer.

“He is taking over Queens detectives, which is a high-profile job,” Mr. Richter said. “It follows the career path that prior commanding officers of the Emergency Service Unit have taken. A transfer such as this is a normal progression in the career path of a high-ranking chief in the Police Department.”

Commissioner Kelly appointed Chief Molloy to head the Emergency Service Unit in September 2008, and he took the reins only days after the death of a man believed to be emotionally disturbed during a standoff with officers from the unit.

At the time, the police said the decision to appoint Chief Molloy reflected Commissioner Kelly’s desire to have a higher-ranking officer in charge. (He replaced the acting commander, a deputy inspector.) Sanford A. Rubenstein, a lawyer representing Mr. Polanco’s family, said of the transfer, “It’s interesting that it’s happened at this time, and we’d like to know if it’s connected to the investigation into the wrongful death of Noel Polanco.”

The Queens district attorney’s office is investigating the shooting; Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, the union representing Detective Hamdy, did not return a phone call Friday.

A version of this article appears in print on October 20, 2012, on page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: Chief of an Elite Police Unit Involved in Two Fatal Shootings Is Reassigned. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe